Environmental Science Major

Environmental Science Major

IN THIS SECTION

Protect the environment

Get the skills you need to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. The Environmental Science Major will give you an understanding of the interactions between humans and the natural world. With its interdisciplinary approach, the program introduces you to fundamental concepts in biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics as you learn scientific techniques and tools for assessing human impacts on the environment. Get your hands dirty and your feet wet as you work at our new research facility at nearby Patch Reservoir, using our program’s canoes and suite of environmental sensors. You’ll conduct hands-on field and laboratory investigations of environmental systems, and you’ll participate in independent research with faculty mentors and an internship with an outside agency.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

  • Intern with an environmental agency
  • Apply scientific tools and methodology to gather information and solve problems
  • Conduct both field- and laboratory-based analysis
  • Participate in faculty-led undergraduate research on topics like water pollution, atmospheric carbon sequestration, remote sensing of the environment, drone-based imaging, and more
  • Discover the relevance of environmental science to a wide array of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, including biology, earth science, chemistry, human geography, urban studies, and public policy
Check Out the Different Environmental Science Courses Waiting for you at Worcester State
EV-120 Integrated Environmental Science for Educators
Introduction to the scientific method. Physical, biological and earth sciences as applied to problems in environmental science. Three lecture hours and Two laboratory hours per week.
4 credits
EV-130 Environmental Problems and Solutions
The course is an introduction to human impacts on the earth and ecosystem processes. The complexity of these issues is examined through a series of case studies examining global, regional and local issues.
3 credits
EV-150 Environmental Science
Interdisciplinary scientific study of human impacts on natural systems. Introduction to fundamental concepts and tools of environmental impact analysis.
3 credits
EV-199 Special Topics in Environmental Science
Lecture or laboratory course in selected areas of Environmental Science presented by departmental instructor. Topics will be announced in advance.
1 to 6 credits
EV-202 Principles of Ecology
Basic ecological theory relating to organism-environment interactions; population dynamics, and ecosystems. Three hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits
EV-210 Chemical Analysis: An Introduction to Modern Methods
Introduction to modern methods of chemical analysis including gravimetry, acid-base and redox titrations, potentiometry, UV-visible and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and gas and HPLC chromatography. Three lecture hours and four laboratory hours per week.
5 credits
EV-218 Introduction to Remote Sensing
Introduction to the use and analysis of remotely sensed images such as aerial photographs and satellite imagery.
3 credits
EV-225 Oceanography
The principles of physical, chemical, biological, and geological oceanography.
3 credits
EV-230 Biogeography
The distribution patterns of plants and animals, processes affecting this distribution, and how these patterns change in space and time.
3 credits
EV-235 Contemporary Climate Change
The global climate system, factors influencing climate, recent climate change and the role of human activity.
3 credits
EV-250 Hydrology
Hydrologic processes, their estimation and measurement. Includes precipitation, evaporation, runoff, groundwater and water resources management.
3 credits
EV-258 Global Environmental Change
An introduction to the science, political economy and ethics of global environmental change.
3 credits
EV-260 Introduction to Soil Science
The study of the formation, processes, classification and composition of soils with emphasis on environmental applications, including watershed delineation.
3 credits
EV-301 Topics in Invertebrate Zoology
Considers anatomy, taxonomy (including selected articles of the international code of zoological nomenclature), natural history, and evolutionary relationships of selected invertebrate phyla. Three hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits
EV-307 American Public Lands: Environmental Issues
Exploration of the environmental management issues on U.S. public lands such as national parks, national forests BLM lands.
3 credits
EV-320 Environmental Chemistry
Chemistry of the atmosphere, soil, and natural water systems, air and water pollution, water treatment, hazardous wastes and pollution control. Lab techniques including sampling and analysis of environmental media. Lecture 3 hours per week and Lab will meet once a week for 3 hours.
4 credits
EV-330 Environmental Toxicology
Topics include the pharmacological and biochemical properties of toxins and the effects of toxins on human health, including assessment of risk(s).
3 credits
EV-331 Marine Biology
Considers the marine environment, its flora and fauna, distribution and production of plankton-nekton-benthos, zoogeography, bioeconomic factors and potential. Three lecture hours and a three-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits
EV-333 Topics in Vertebrate Zoology
Life histories, adaptations, distribution, systematics, and economic importance of selected vertebrate taxa. Each semester will focus on a particular taxon. Three hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits
EV-334 Wildlife Biology
Theory and Practice of wildlife management. Considers procedures for collection and analysis of field and laboratory data on vertebrate game populations useful to wildlife biologists. Three hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week.
4 credits
EV-335 Hydrogeology
Underground water and its movement. Aquifer identification and test; wells, contamination and remediation, ground water as a geologic agent.
3 credits
EV-340 Plant Sciences
Morphology, anatomy, physiology of flowering plants with studies on life cycles, ecological relationships, biochemical processes and evolution of plant diversity. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.
4 credits
EV-344 Soil Biology
Includes study of nutrient cycling, relations between plants, animals, and microbes, ecology of polluted soils and soil biotechnology. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.
4 credits
EV-345 Green Chemistry
This course will provide an understanding of the fundamentals of green chemical design that either eliminates or reduces the use of generation of hazardous substances. Three hours of lecture/lab per week.
3 credits
EV-348 Fundamentals of Earth Data Analytics
The theory and practice of data analytics using remote sensing and in-situ earth observations and communicating the science.
4 credits
EV-360 Animal Behavior
Survey of ethology and behavioral ecology from an historical and evolutionary perspective. Laboratory involves observation, recording and analysis of animal behavior. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.
4 credits
EV-370 Lakes & Environmental Change
Modern physical, biogeochemical, and sedimentary processes in lakes. Lake sediments as archives of past climate and environmental change. Includes fieldwork.
4 credits
EV-380 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
A theoretical and quantitative approach to species, genetic, ecosystem and community diversity in the context of modern conservation biology principles. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.
4 credits
EV-400 Environmental Science Seminar
Capstone course for Environmental Science majors. Creation and presentation of a review or research paper and career preparation.
3 credits
EV-408 Directed Study: Environmental Science
Directed study offers students, who because of unusual circumstances may be unable to register for a course when offered, the opportunity to complete an existing course with an established syllabus under the direction and with agreement from a faculty member.
3 to 4 credits
EV-410 Independent Study in Environmental Science
Opportunity for advanced students to pursue a topic of special interest involving extensive reading, experimentation, and research.
1 to 6 credits
EV-412 Special Topics in Environmental Science
Intended for the undergraduate who wishes to undertake study of selected topics in Environmental Science of mutual interest to student and faculty.
1 to 6 credits
EV-420 Advanced Geoscience Research and Fieldwork
Lab and or field-based research on a specific geoscience topic under supervision of a faculty member.
1 to 6 credits

Why Study Environmental Science at Worcester State?

As a student of Environmental Science, you will gain a holistic understanding of the field–inside and outside of the classroom.
There are countless opportunities for students of Environmental Science to take part in research at Worcester State–students have worked in the field across New England, in Canada, and even in Antarctica!
  • 2 majors; 4 minors; 5 Geography concentrations
  • Field trips across Massachusetts
  • Gamma Theta Upsilon Honors Program
  • GIS and Earth Science Laboratories
  • Patch Reservoir Research Facility
  • Telescope Collection

See the diverse career paths that a major in Environmental Science can prepare you for

Explore a wide range of rewarding professional opportunities.

Climatologist
Consultant
Environmental Clean-Up Project Manager
Groundwater Sampling Technician
Researcher
Scientist
Teacher
Science & Technology Outreach Coordinator
Science or Technical Writer
Cartographer
GIS Technician
Soil & Water Conservationist
Environmental Compliance Inspector
Climate Change Analyst

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